State-run Dredging Corporation of India Ltd (DCIL) is in the process of raising Rs 1,200 crore to fund its expansion plans.
As part of this fund-raising plan, the company said is in talks with cash-rich ports that require dredging. “We are in talks with a few cash-rich ports to raise money for buying two 9,000 cubic mt capacity dredgers at a cost of about `1,200 crore. We need new dredgers, which will eventually reduce the cost of maintenance. About 60 per cent of our fleet is over 20 years old, hence we have decided to replace the aged assets to improve the overall productivity,” said D K Mohanty, CMD, DCIL.
Some of the cash-rich ports include Paradip, Kandla, Visakhapatnam and JNPT.
He added that the company was trying to work out an arrangement with some ports so that they can offer a part of the funds for the new dredgers, while DCIL would pay them back through dredging of the ports in return.
The company is currently in the midst of raising Rs 500 crore through public issue of tax-free bonds to finance acquisition of one of the three 5,500 cubic mt capacity dredgers it has on order. While the first two dredgers are being procured through ECB borrowings, for the third, the company is raising finance through the bond route.